India Aviation Safety Downgrade Unrelated To Diplomatic Row: U.S.

Washington: Asserting that the U.S. downgrade of India's aviation regulator had "absolutely nothing" to do with the Khobragade affair, Washington says it was committed to help India get its status back as soon as possible.

"This absolutely had nothing to do with the ongoing case of Dr. Khobragade," State Department spokesperson Marie Harf told reporters when asked if the U.S. action would hurt efforts to restore ties with India after their worst diplomatic spat over the Dec 12 arrest of an Indian diplomat.

The diplomatic row was sparked by the arrest and strip search of Devyani Khobragade, 39, India's then deputy consul general in New York.

She was asked to return home Jan 10 after India declined to waive her diplomatic immunity to enable her prosecution charges of visa fraud and underpaying her housekeeper even as she was indicted by a grand jury in New York.

"Again, this was a regulatory decision," she said referring to the U.S. Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) downgrade of the safety ranking of India's Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) from category-I to category-II rating.

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